Morocco Higher Planning Commission Predicts Improvement in Economic Growth

A worker picks strawberries, to be exported, in a field in Moulay Bousselham in Kenitra province, March 15, 2014. (Reuters)
A worker picks strawberries, to be exported, in a field in Moulay Bousselham in Kenitra province, March 15, 2014. (Reuters)
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Morocco Higher Planning Commission Predicts Improvement in Economic Growth

A worker picks strawberries, to be exported, in a field in Moulay Bousselham in Kenitra province, March 15, 2014. (Reuters)
A worker picks strawberries, to be exported, in a field in Moulay Bousselham in Kenitra province, March 15, 2014. (Reuters)

Morocco's economic growth is expected to rise slightly in Q4 of 2019 to 2.6 percent, after falling to 2.4 percent in Q3 due to the contraction of global trade and slowed growth of non-agricultural activities, according to the country’s Higher Planning Commission.

In a memorandum Tuesday, the Commission expected Morocco's exports to improve, despite the difficult conditions resulting from the contraction of global trade.

Regarding automobile exports, the Commission expected that the sector will continue to decline, especially fully assembled vehicles, due to the drop in global demand for cars, most notably in the European and Chinese markets.

The export of parts and electrical components of cars manufactured in Morocco is linked to demand in the European market, it added.

Moroccan phosphate fertilizer exports will see modest growth during Q4 of 2019. The Commission pointed out that this period is expected to witness strong pressure on fertilizer prices following the increased demand on Asian fertilizer and declining global demand due to lower prices of agricultural products.

The Commission also noted that the dynamics of Moroccan exports of fertilizers will be affected by lower US and Indian imports, but will benefit from improved South American demand.

According to the Commission, the mining and manufacturing sectors will grow by 3 percent and the tourism sector by 2.3 percent.

Overall, the Commission forecasts that the agricultural sector will continue its contraction for the fourth consecutive quarter, and will stand at 2.6 instead of 2.8 percent compared to the same period last year.



Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
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Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday said he will nominate prominent investor Scott Bessent as US Treasury secretary, a key cabinet position with vast influence over economic, regulatory and international affairs.

"I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States," Trump said in a statement released on Truth Social. "Scott is widely respected as one of the world's foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists."

Wall Street has been closely watching who Trump will pick, especially given his plans to remake global trade through tariffs and extend and potentially expand the raft of tax cuts enacted during his first term, Reuters reported
The choice came after days of deliberations by Trump as he sorted through a shifting list of candidates. Bessent spent day after day at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida providing economic advice, sources said, a proximity to the president-elect that may have helped him prevail.
Other names that had been floated included Apollo Global Management Chief Executive Marc Rowan and former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh. Investor John Paulson had also been a leading candidate, but dropped out, while Wall Street veteran Howard Lutnick, another contender, was appointed as head of the Commerce Department.
Bessent, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has advocated for tax reform and deregulation, particularly to spur more bank lending and energy production, as noted in a recent opinion piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.
The market's surge after Trump's election victory, he wrote, signaled investor expectations of "higher growth, lower volatility and inflation, and a revitalized economy for all Americans."
"Bessent has been on the side of less aggressive tariffs," said Oxford Economics' Ryan Sweet, adding that picking him makes the steep tariffs Trump proposed on the campaign trail less likely.
Bessent follows other financial luminaries who have taken the job, including former Goldman Sachs executives Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson and Steven Mnuchin, Trump's first Treasury chief. Janet Yellen, the current secretary and first woman in the job, previously chaired the Federal Reserve and White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, Bessent's home state, said in a statement: "President Trump's economic agenda is in good hands with Scott Bessent. I look forward to working closely with Scott and President Trump to lower inflation and create the golden age of prosperity for the American people."